Frog catcher



March 1965 H. E. SWANSON ETAL 3,

FROG CATCHER Filed May 29, 1963 FIG. 4

INVENTORS KENNETH R SWANSO/V Y HAROLD E. SWANSO/V ATTORNEY United StatesPatent 3,172,229 FROG CATCHER Harold E. Swanson and Kenneth R. Swanson,both of Waverly, Minn. Filed May 29, 1963, Ser. No. 284,133 3 Claims.(Cl. 43-65) This invention relates to means for capturing frogs; inparticular, it concerns a new and improved device adapted to facilitatethe easy and humane catching of frogs.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improvedfrog catcher.

Another broad object of this invention is to provide a frog catcher thatmakes use of the natural jumping tendencies of a frog to bring about itscapture and containment.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a frog catcher novelmeans for preventing the escape of the frogs that have been captured bythe device.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a frog catcher thatmay be easily manipulated from a standing position and which does notrequire attention until it is full of frogs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a frog catcher that canbe easily made of ordinary materials, is attractive in appearance, andrugged in design.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become morefully apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing whereinan illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the invention, with parts cut away forpurposes of clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention A includes a body shown ascage-like in appearance although it may be made of solid material ifdesired. Body 16 is formed with a lower hollow cylindrical part 12 andan upper generally conical part 14 (shown as in the shape of a fr-ustumof a cone) integral therewith. The upper conical part 14 of body 10 isprovided with a central opening 16 over which a flat cover member 18 ishingedly secured by means of hinges 19.

The bottom of lower part 12 of body 10 is equipped with an upwardlyextending cone-shaped entrance or mouth structure 20, the lower end 21of which is characterized by an enlarged opening 22 of approximately thesame diameter as the diameter of lower part 12 of body 10. The upper end23 of entrance structure is provided with a central opening 24 ofrelatively small diameter which is vertically spaced within body 10 atabout the middle thereof. A frog-trapping annular shield 26 is securedto the upper end 23 of entrance structure 20 adjacent opening 24.Preferably shield 26 is sloped downwardly and radially outwardly asshown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Shield 26 is made wide enough to prevent thefrogs trapped in the area therebelow (indicated by the referencecharacter 30) from jumping up into opening 24.

Further provided is a bracket member 32 that is secured to entrancestructure 20 by means of bolts 34 attached to leg 36 thereof. Bracketmember 32 has a leg 38 integral with leg 36 and extending outwardlytherefrom through the side of body 10. A conventional elongated handle40 is attached to leg 38 of bracket member 32 by means of bolts 42.

It has been found that frogs tend to jump towards a lighted area whenthey are enclosed in a dark area.

3,172,229 Patented Mar. 9, 1965 The device makes use of this tendency byvirtue of the solid character of entrance structure 20 in combinationwith opening 23 at the top thereof together with the mesh-likeconstruction of body 10, which permits light to pass through opening 23.If desired, body 10 may be made of a sheet of translucent or transparentmaterial (such as plastic or nylon, for example) to accomplish a similarresult.

In use, the device is placed over a frog as shown in FIGURE 1. The frogfollows his natural tendency to jump up through opening 24 in entrancestructure 20 and in so doing lands in area 34] between entrancestructure 20 and the wall of body ltl. He is prevented from returningthrough opening 23 by shield 26. The process is repeated by placing thedevice over successive frogs until the area 30 is fairly well filledwith frogs. Then the handle 40 is turned and device is tipped upsidedown and the frogs are discharged by gravity through opening 16 in bodyit When the device is tipped upside down cover member 18 rotates aboutits hinges 19 to release the frogs.

It is evident that changes within the skill of those versed in the artmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. In manyinstances, features may be added; in others, features may be omitted. Inthe case of the body it is clear that shapes other than those mentionedmay be used without departure from the spirit of the invention. Where,as in the case of the body and the entrance structure, the same orsimilar results may be achieved by the use of equivalents, substitutionof the equivalent may be made without departing from the inventiveconcept.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by summarization in theappended claims, all features of patentable novelty residing in theinvention.

We claim:

l. A frog catcher including a hollow cage-like body having a generallycylindrical lower portion and a generally frusto-conical upper portion,said body having an open bottom and an open top, the said open top beingof smaller radial extent than the said open bottom and being concentrictherewith, generally frusto-conical opaque frog entrance structurewithin said body, said frog entrance structure having an enlarged openbottom secured to the bottom of said hollow body substantiallycoextensive therewith and having a diminished open top concentric withthe open top of said body, a downwardly and outwardly sloping annularfrog trapping shield secured to said frog entrance structure insurrounding relation to the open top thereof, a cover member hingedattached to the top of said hollow body, and handle means secured tosaid entrance structure and extending through said body, said conicalstructure, the adjacent cylindrical lower portion of the body and theshield defining a trapping space for a frog.

2. The frog catcher set forth in claim 1 wherein said handle meansincludes a bracket member, said bracket member having a first legportion secured to said entrance structure and a second leg portionextending outwardly therefrom through the side of the said body, and ahandle secured to said second leg portion outwardly of said body.

3. A frog catcher including a hollow cage-like body having a generallycylindrical lower portion and a generally frusto-conical upper portion,said body having an open bottom and an open top, the said open top beingof smaller radial extent than the said open bottom and being concentrictherewith, generally frusto-conical opaque frog entrance structurewithin said body, said frog entrance structure having an enlarged openbottom secured to the bottom of said hollow body substantiallyco-extensive therewith and having a diminished open top concentric withthe open top of said body, a downwardly and outwardly sloping annularfrog trapping shield secured to said frog entrance structure insurrounding relation to the open top thereof, a closure for the top ofsaid hollow body, and 5 handle means secured to said entrance structureand extending through said body, said conical'structilre, the adjacentcylindrical lower portion of the body and the shield defining a trappingspace for a frog.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 111,291 1/71Williams 4365 X 684,867 10/01 Ripper 43-65 2,680,922 6/54 Welfl 43-1ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

P. RAY 'CHAPPELL, Examiner.

1. A FROG CATCHER INCLUDING A HOLLOW CAGE-LIKE BODY HAVING A GENERALLYCYLINDRICAL LOWER PORTION AND A GENERALLY FRUSTO-CONICAL UPPER PORTION,SAID BODY HAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM AND AN OPEN TOP, THE SAID OPEN TOP BEINGOF SMALLER RADIAL EXTENT THAN THE SAID OPEN BOTTOM AND BEING CONCENTRICTHEREWITH, GENERALLY FRUSTO-CONICAL OPAQUE FROG ENTRANCE STRUCTUREWITHIN SAID BODY, SAID FROG ENTRANCE STRUCTURE HAVING AN ENLARGED OPENBOTTOM SECURED TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID HOLLOW BODY SUBSTANTIALLYCOEXTENSIVE THEREWITH AND HAVING A DIMINISHED OPEN TOP CONCENTRIC WITHTHE OPEN TOP OF SAID BODY, A DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY SLOPING ANNULARFROG TRAPPING SHIELD SECURED TO SAID FROG ENTRANCE STRUCTURE INSURROUNDING RELATION TO THE OPEN TOP THEREOF, A COVER MEMBER HINGEDATTACHED TO THE TOP OF SAID HOLLOW BODY, AND HANDLE MEANS SECURED TOSAID ENTRANCE STRUCTURE AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID BODY, SAID CONICALSTRUCTURE, THE ADJACENT CYLINDRICAL LOWER PORTION OF THE BODY AND THESHIELD DEFINING A TRAPPING SPACE FOR A FROG.